Fritz von Unruh began his career in the military, which shaped his pacifist beliefs. During the Weimar Republic, he was not only an author but also a popular speaker. Following a theatre scandal, in the course of which he was defamed by the Nazis, her emigrated to Italy in 1932.

When von Unruh came into conflict with the Mussolini regime, he fled to France in 1935. There he continued working on his autobiographical novel “Der nie verlor” (The end is not yet), though he was unable to finish it until 1945. When war broke out, von Unruh was imprisoned as a “hostile foreigner”. Once free, he managed to use forged documents to flee to the USA in 1940. As his fortune was confiscated when he was expatriated in 1938, he arrived virtually penniless in the States and was reliant on support.

In the USA, von Unruh conducted a lively correspondence with Thomas Mann and Albert Einstein. He gave talks and published poems and essays, though he was unable to get his plays performed. Although his novel “Der nie verlor” was published in English translation in 1947 (The end is not yet), it didn’t achieve success.

After the war ended, Fritz von Unruh visited Germany several times. He only decided to return in 1962, when a natural disaster destroyed his house in the USA. In German post-war society, his works were perceived as pompous and old-fashioned, and didn’t have any impact.

Selected works:
Opfergang (Novel, 1918)
Zero (Comedy, 1932)
Europa, erwache! (Speech, 1936)
Der nie verlor (Novel, engl. The end is not yet, 1947; dt. 1948)
Rede an die Deutschen (Speech, 1948)

Further reading:
Schulz, Karola Schulz: Fast ein Revolutionär. Fritz von Unruh zwischen Exil und Remigration (1932–1962), München: Iudicium 1995.
Spalek, John M. / Strelka, Joseph (Hg.): Deutschsprachige Exilliteratur seit 1933. Band 2: New York. Teil 2. Bern: Francke 1989, S. 914-932.